PREP FOOTBALL: Madison runs past East Detroit into playoff berth

By Tom Watts, For The Daily Tribune

Friday, October 5, 2012

MADISON HEIGHTS - On a wet and slippery night when they dedicated Madison High’s field to Hall of Fame coach Jim Myers, the Eagles football team was putting a headlock on East Detroit to secure a ninth straight playoff appearance.

Napoleon Harris scored three times and Anthony Free twice as Madison again qualified for the state playoffs with a soggy 41-7 homecoming victory over East Detroit at newly named Jim Myers Stadium on Friday.

Myers, a Madison High alum himself, also gained international fame as professional wrestler George The Animal Steele.

The Eagles (6-1 overall, 4-1 Macomb Area Conference Silver Division) have now made the playoffs nine straight and the last five years under Coach Drake Wilkins.

“I said to keep working and things will take care of themselves,” Wilkins said Friday. “They believe what I’ve been saying. I like how we’re playing.”

East Detroit, which had two touchdowns called back on Friday because of penalties, falls to 1-5 and 0-5.

“We’re young,” East Detroit first-year coach Branden Banks said. “Four starters out; a couple more injured during the game. Overall we’re just young and Madison’s is one of the best teams.”

This season will mark the first time the Eagles will play in the Division 6 playoffs. Madison was in Division 3 when they went to the state finals in 2005 and have moved back in divisions based on reduced school enrollment.

“Every week we are getting better,” said Wilkins, who noted the Eagles fell behind by 25 points during a 3-point loss to Fitzgerald earlier in the season. “We trailed by 25 against Fitzgerald and fought back. We’ve been playing with a lot of heart.”

Harris, a junior, made it a clock-running 35-0 lead with 1:46 left in the third quarter with his third TD of the night – a 4-yard run. He finished the night with 14 rushes for 95 yards.

East Detroit got on the board with 8:21 left when Romell Holmes scored on a terrific 20-yard TD run around the left side to cut into the lead, 35-6.

But the Shamrocks didn’t help themselves early in the game with two costly turnovers in the first half. Madison senior Rodney Combs pounced on East Detroit fumble with 4:20 left before half to put the Eagles in excellent field position at the Shamrocks’ 30.

Free did the rest of the work for the Eagles. First, he grabbed a 25-yard strike from senior quarterback Nick Wallace to get Madison into the red zone. On the next play Free went off the right tackle for a 4-yard TD with 1:37 left and a commanding 21-0 lead.

Free, a 5-foot-6 senior two-way back, also added a 4-yard scoring run early in the third quarter to give Madison a commanding 28-0 advantage; Free ended with 52 yards on seven attempts.

Kicker Sean Esho, a junior, kicked all five extra points for Madison.

The Eagles took a 41-6 lead with 6:38 left when junior Jalen Barbee scored on a 12-yard run. Madison took a knee rather than attempt the extra point.

Madison’s offense flourished in the first half despite the steady rain. A 12-yard pass from Wallace to Lewis Brown – who was named the school’s Homecoming King on Friday - and an ensuing personal foul penalty put the ball on the East Detroit 4 at 10:25 of the second quarter.

“My role is to be a leader,” said Brown, a fast cornerback who was sporting a king’s crown in the locker room. “We played as a team. It just takes heart,”

On the next play, Harris then went off the right tackle for his second TD of the night and a 14-0 Madison lead after Esho booted the extra point.

Madison got on the board at 3:04 of the first quarter when Harris bulled over from 1-yard out to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead after Esho’s extra point kick.

That proved to be the winning points.

“Our goal is to win a championship,” said Brown when asked what he felt about being in the playoffs again.

Wilkins said Madison going to the playoffs is by design.

“Playoffs – our goal is to win championships here,” Wilkins said.

East Detroit, meanwhile, is young and still learning.

Holmes, a brilliant runner, returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown for the Shamrocks. But the jubilation was subsided after East Detroit was called for holding.

The second play of the game for the Shamrocks was an illegal shift; the third play was a 6-yard loss; and the next play was a pass for zero yards. Not the kind of start East Detroit hoped for.

“I see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Banks said. “We’ll put it together.”

Madison, meanwhile, used a 35-yard pass from offensive engineer Wallace to talented Jalin Golson on the Eagles’ first play to set up an impressive opening drive.

However, the Eagles’ Harris fumbled in the end zone after a 6-yard run and junior Jacoby Hennings recovered for East Detroit to stymie Madison’s opening drive.

Vincent Jordan, Melvin Brooks and Joshua Taylor played inspired defense for the Shamrocks, who like Madison wore pink socks and pink tape to show their collective support in the fight against breast cancer.

The Eagles defense pursued East Detroit Austin Geoffrey all night. Geoffrey, however, got loose and had a 47-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that was called back after a holding call. It was the Shamrocks second touchdown called back on the night.

Antonio George (11 tackles), Davyion Jones, Kyle Baldwin and Wallace led a brilliant defense for the Eagles, who will play at Lamphere next week.

“That’s a rival game,” Wilkins said. “That game is all about heart. It’s for the city of Madison Heights. That’s what it’s all about.”